'Elvis' Fans Plead With Baz Luhrmann To Release Unseen 4-Hour Cut Of Film!

Fans who can't get enough of the Baz Luhrmann-directed Elvis Presley biopic "Elvis," may be in for a letdown.

One of the biggest box office success stories of the year, which stars Austin Butler as the late king of rock and roll, became available to stream last month, only two months after its theatrical release.

The film, which is now available on HBO Max, runs just slightly under two and a half hours, allegedly isn't the only version of the film that exists!

The film's highly-esteemed director supposedly has access to another cut of "Elvis" which, according to Indie-Wire, is four hours long.

However, as of this writing, the alternative version of the film with additional footage may never see the light of day, if Luhrmann has the final say!

Read on to find out why the director is reluctant to release the unseen cut of "Elvis."

The idea of a biopic on the life of Presley, who died in 1977 at the age of 42, had been in the works for nearly a decade before its 2022 release.

According to one of our reports on the film from last year, the film had been initially announced in 2014, and production began in 2019.

Butler, 31, was unknowingly equipped to play one of the most well-known faces of the 20th century and one of the most well-known entertainers in history from a young age. He began playing music from a young age.

The actor, who was formerly romantically linked to "High School Musical" star Vanessa Hudgens, spoke to Interview about his musical upbringing.

"I play the guitar and the piano, and my first instrument was the violin" he revealed to the publication, "When I was in elementary school, I began playing the violin. I fell in love with the guitar when I was 13 years old. I'd play for eight hours a day, and it became an obsession for me," he said.

Shooting the film had been a fairly intense experience for the actor.

Once filming wrapped on set, Butler's health had declined to the point where he needed to be hospitalized.

According to our report on Butler's illness and his hospitalization, the actor ended up staying in the hospital for a week after being diagnosed with "a virus that simulated appendicitis," which later resulted in Butler's body leaving him in, as Butler described, "excruciating pain," after it began "shutting down," he shared per an interview with GQ.

The full scope of Butler's performance, which we now know includes footage not seen in "Elvis"s theatrical release, will be left on the cutting room floor.

Lurhmann, who was reportedly very proud of the actor's performance in the film per one of our aforementioned reports, expressed frustration directed toward audiences who are allegedly flooding his Twitter account with requests for him to release the footage.

"I tell you what, my tweets are nothing but, 'We want the four hour version! We want the four hour version,' the director admitted in an interview with ScreenRant per Indie Wire, "I think people are at my gates with pitchforks saying 'We want the four hour version!"

However, in the continuation of his comments, Lurhmann seemed to allude he'd never say never to the footage eventually seeing the light of day.

"But I don't close my mind to the idea that there would be an extended cut," he went on to say. "Right now, with how long it's stayed in the theaters and how well it's done, it's crossed the line. But it's done so well on HBO Max over the weekend, so it's about the parent company going, 'Wow, this is really worth spending the money.'"

Lurhmann went on to explain more about the technical aspects needed for the additional footage to be properly released, and he concluded his explanation by declaring "I'm a bit on the tired side."

Well, in the meantime, "Elvis" fans can thankfully opt for repeated viewings of the original version through streaming on HBO Max or by purchasing the film!